Ice mitten



NOV. 4

V. DEXHEIMER ICE MITTEN Fild Feb. 23, 1922 INVENTOR WM WWW v ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

VALENTINE DEXHEIMER, Orr/romances, ew YORK:

Ion" Mmm" ApplicationfiledTebruary 23,1922." Serial No. 538,531.

To al'Z'dulz-om ii /nay concern:

Be" it known that I, VALENTINE" DEX- I-IEIMER, residing at Montrose, inthe county oflv'estchesten State of New York. have inventedcertain new and usefullmprovements in Ice Mittens; and I'do hereby declare the fol-lowing to be a full, clear, and" exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to Which itappertain-s to make"anctusethe same.

This invention is an improvement inice mittens; one of the objects being to provide a simple'and effective mitten to be used for domestic purposes;

It is Wellknovvn that a cake of ice isa very elusive and disagreeable-thingto han dle. Everyone Who hasever attempted to carry a pieceoficeand depositit in an icebox, knows that it is very difii cult to grasp the ice firmly and to hold it until it is -safe Furthermore, the hands ly disposed of. and usually the clot-hing become sorledduring'the process and the cold sensation produced by direct contact with the ice-is veryj disagreeable.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a means whereby a piece of ice maybe readily handled Without producing the usual disagreeable conse quences. The improved ice mitten consists of a finger portion composed of a piece of sheet metal large enough'to fully protect the fingers. The face of the finger portion is roughened in any suitablemanner so-that a large number of sharp projectionsorgripping members extend out an appreciable distance from the surface of the metal. A

strap or band of any suitable material'is provided on the back of the finger portion, this band being of the proper size to fit snugly over the'backs of thefingers. To this finger portion, another piece of sheet metal is attached forming a shield for the thumb and back portion of the palm of the hand. The face of this thumb portion is also provided with a large number of sharp projections or gripping members and a loop is provided on the back for securing this portion of the mitten to the thumb. The two body members of the mitten are secured together preferably by a hinge, the hinge being so located that it 1s approximately in line With the center of the palm of the hand When the mitten is in use, so that the thumb is free to move independently of the fingers. lVhenthis device is tobe used the fingers are 'slip-ped through the band or loop on the back of the finger portion and the thumb is inserted in the loop on the thumb portionz; For this purpose the two body members may be swung about theircmmect ing 'hingeso as to lie in substantially the same plane, and the straps or bands'areso placed upon the backs of these membersthat in this p osition'it is aparticularly'easy matter to insert the fingers and thumb therein. A piece of *ice canthen bepicked up Without bringi ngthe handsdirectly in contact with it, and a very-secure grip is obtained because of the sharp projections or grippingmembers, and the fact that these gripping members are so formed on the front of the body members as to provide means for engaging the blockof ice Whilethe body members are in substantially the same plane.

A block of ice is an extremely slippery object, and to prevent slipping and turning in the hands the sharp projections preferably extend to Widely separated points in thefaces of both portions of the device. The device substantially covers the Whole hand and the projections are preferably distributed over substantially the entire surface of the device, although it is not necessary that the distribution be uniform. It'is advantageous, however. that the projections be relatively short so as not to sink too far'into the ice and thus render it difficult to remove the mittens after the block of ice is deposited at the place desired.

Infltheform of the ice mitten which I prefer to use the upper or finger portion substantially covers the fingers and the lower or thumb portion substantially covers thepalm and thumb, an extension being provided r for the thumb, for example, at about right angles to the hinge connecting the two portions together.

The device is very simple and can be ad justed on the hand in an instant. It is therefore especially adapted to be used for do mestic purposes, for example, transferring ice from a dumbwaiter to an icebox.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front View of one form of the improved mitten.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the mitten shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the preferred form of mitten, this form having a larger thumb portion than that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 shows the method of using the improved mitten.

Referring to the drawing, a finger por-' tion 1 is shown, this finger portion being attached to the thumb portion 2 by meansof a hinge 3. A large number of sharp projections or gripping devices 4; are provided on the finger and thumb portions. The finger and thumb portions 1 and 2 respectively, may be made of any suitable sheet metal. The rough projections 4 may be made in any ordinary manner, such as perforating the metal from the back, the sharp edges of the perforations forming the projections. The projections extend to widely separated points in the faces of portions 1 and 2 so as to engage the block of ice at points which are at a considerable distance from one another in order to give the person a good purchase upon the ice block and enable him to prevent, with a minimum of effort, the slipping and turning of the block in his hands.

To the back of the finger portion 1, is attached a strap or band 5 which may be made of any suitable material, such as leather or fibrous material. This band 5 is attached to the piece 1 by rivets 6 or other suitable means. The thumb portion is also provided with a band 7 attached to the metal by means of rivets 8.

When each hand is provided with the improved mitten, a piece of ice 9 may be grasped and conveyed very easily and the difiiculties usually encountered are avoided.

In Fig. 3 there is shown the preferred :form of the invention wherein the lower part of the mitten is enlarged in size to substantially cover the palm of the hand and is providedwith an extension 2 of a shape to cover the thumb. In this form of the device the strap 7 which slips over the thumb is at right angles to the strap of the upper partof the mitten and the hinged connection between the two parts of the mitten lies in line with the joints of the hand forming the knuckles, while in the first described form of the mitten the upper part of the palm of the hand and fingers are covered by the upper part of the mitten and the hinged lower part bends with the thumb. The ice may be satisfactorily handled with either form of the device, but the last de scribed form is more convenient to use and affords larger gripping area than the first.

I claim:

1. A device for handling ice comprising a pair of body members hinged together and provided with means for securing them to the hand, one of said members having a lat eral projection adjacent the hinge for pro tecting the thumb, the body members having gripping members so formed thereon as to rovide means for engaging a block of ice while the body members are in substantially the same plane.

2. A device for handling ice comprising a pair of body members hinged together, means on the backs of said members under which the fingers and thumb of the hand may be inserted while the members are in substantially the same plane, one of said members having a lateral projection adjacent the hinge for protecting the thumb, and gripping members so formed on the front of the body members as to provide means for engaging a block of ice while the body members are in substantially the same plane.

3. An ice mitten comprising, a sheet metal finger gers, a sheet metal thumb piece substantially covering the palm and thumb, a hinge connectingsaid thumb piece to said finger piece, a plurality of sharp projections on the faces of said pieces and distributed over substantially the entire surface thereof, a strap secured to the back of said finger piece for detachably securing said finger piece to the fingers, and a second strap attached to the back of said thumb piece for detachably securing said piece to the thumb, said second strap being attached to the thumb piece in angular relation to the strap on thefinger piece and to the hinge connecting said two pieces.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

VALENTINE DEXHEIMER.

piece substantially covering the fin-' 

